Elliott On Pole, Miller Surprising 2nd

RICHMOND — It was a sponsor's nightmare ... or was it a sponsor's best dream?

There was Bill Elliott, driving a Coors-sponsored Ford, winning the Busch-sponsored pole position award, for a stock car race sponsored by Miller.

It happened here Friday afternoon in top 20 qualifying for Sunday's Miller 400 at the Richmond International Raceway.

Elliott toured the -mile track in 22.289 seconds, a speed of 121.136 miles an hour. His best lap took 4/1,000ths of a second less than the one recorded by Midwestern short-track ace Butch Miller, outside pole-sitter for Sunday's $445,500 race.

Miller, in a Chevrolet, had a lap of 22.293 seconds, a speed of 121.114 mph. When asked the secret to his success he quipped, "I wish I could say we knew what we were doing, that we had the track and the radial tires dialed in. But, really, I think we were extremely lucky."

The 38-year-old Michigan driver admitted he wasn't used to the intense pressure associated with Winston Cup qualifying. "If I hadn't been a basket case before I went out," he said, "I might have done a little better. I was so wired, I probably didn't do as well as I should have.

"I got nervous when people kept coming over and telling me they hadn't timed anybody (in practice) any quicker than our car."

And what does Miller have in mind for Sunday? "You won't see a charging Butch Miller," he said. "I'll try my best not to crash those fast guys at the start. I'll look for a small hole and try to finish the 400 laps.

Elliott, in getting his first pole since last fall's race at Rockingham, put himself in position to win a $152,000 bonus if he wins Sunday. The Unocal Challenge bonus pool grows by $7,600 each time a pole-winner fails to win a race. The pool has been growing since March, when Rusty Wallace swept the pole and race at Rockingham.

"I wasn't thinking about the (bonus) money until after the run, when I saw what I'd run," Elliott said. "I didn't know if that speed would hold up because it was just a good, consistent lap. I hit it just right.

"We'd run a 40 (22.40 seconds) in practice and we knew that Butch had run a 33 (22.33 seconds). I'm just glad I qualified ahead of him and didn't have to know what I had to beat."

Chevy driver Ken Schrader spun and crashed on his second qualifying lap, but his first was good enough (120.903 mph) for third-place on the grid. Terry Labonte was fourth in a Ford, at 120.203.

Among those who must try again in this morning's second qualifying session were such notables as Neil Bonnett, Dale Jarrett, Dick Trickle, Jimmy Spencer, Phil Parsons, Bobby Hillin, Morgan Shepherd, Richard Petty, Lake Speed, Brett Bodine and Lennie Pond.

Petty, whose 18-year streak of 513 consecutive Winston Cup starts ended here in the spring, could muster just 116.641 mph out of his Pontiac.

He was 30th among the 35 drivers who ran Friday, but will likely still make Sunday's 36-car field.

Several drivers struggled to make their Goodyear radials "mate" with the hot, slick asphalt. "I can get two of 'em to whine, but I can't get no sound out of the other two," Darrell Waltrip said. "I've got two good one and two bad ones."

Geoff Bodine also had some reservations. "I'm not as comfortable on radials," he said. "They're a little unpredictable. We'll keep working to get it more comfortable."

Earnhardt had no complaints. "It's a real consistent tire," he said of the radial. "I can run that speed (almost 120 mph) all day Sunday. I don't know if the rest of them can or not."